Shreyas Iyer fires warning shots to Rohit Sharma and Gautam Gambhir despite India D's loss to India C

India D captain Shreyas Iyer stormed back to form with a fierce counter-attacking half-century in the first game of the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2024. However, India D suffered a four-wicket defeat against India C in their tournament opener at the Rural Development Trust Stadium in Anantapur.

Iyer, who had been under scrutiny after being left out of the BCCI annual contract list earlier this year, finally unleashed his brilliance in the second innings after his failure in the first innings against India C in Anantapur.

The pressure was mounting on the stylish batter, as his return to competitive cricket had been anything but smooth, with a mere nine-run contribution in the first inning.

Shreyas Iyer's blazing fifty in vain as India D falls to India C in Duleep Trophy 2024

However, in the second inning, Shreyas Iyer found his groove and delivered a blistering 54 off just 44 balls, hammering the opposition bowlers with nine crisp boundaries and a mighty six in the second game of the ongoing Duleep Trophy 2024 in Anantapur.

India C’s young left-arm spinner Manav Suthar’s sensational seven-wicket haul dismantled Iyer's team, orchestrating India D’s dramatic collapse, as they could manage only 236 runs in their second innings to hand a 233-run target to Ruturaj Gaikwad’s team to win the game.

India C walked away with a four-wicket win, thanks to collective contributions from the batters, but the story of the match remained Iyer’s fiery response in the second innings.

His aggressive intent was evident as he sought to counterattack India’s fierce bowling attack. Even though India D lost the game, Iyer's fifty stood as a testament to his hunger for a national comeback.

Despite the loss to India C, the Indian batter was beaming with satisfaction over his performance in the Duleep Trophy 2024 match, as he sent a clear signal to the national selectors that he’s ready to fight his way back into the Indian cricket team for the upcoming Test series against Bangladesh.

I needed to show intent: Shreyas Iyer

Shreyas Iyer said at the post-match press conference: “It was necessary for me to show intent because their bowlers were bowling great in the right areas and the ball was seaming as well. I just wanted to take the attack and see if we could get a decent total on board. When the ball got old, it was stopping a bit. I wanted to capitalize on my intent, but I would take that fifty any day.”

The India D captain further noted that the pitch provided little assistance to the bowlers, offering almost no spin throughout the match. Iyer further mentioned that Saransh Jain managed to deliver in the right areas despite the conditions.

Shreyas Iyer stressed that they are just focusing on taking lessons from the defeat and bouncing back in the next game in the tournament.

Shreyas Iyer signed off by saying, “The pitch did not offer much, there was no spin for the bowlers. Saransh bowled in great areas. There were few patches on the pitch created by the fast bowlers where the ball spun from outside of the off-stump, other than that it was quite dead. Hopefully, we learn from this and move on.”